Hand operated catapult toy

ABSTRACT

A catapult toy, embodying a flexible resilient wand, with a finger grip handle, a tapered whippable shank, and a shaped front end, to receive a mass to be loosely but frictionally fitted on said front end, to be catapulted from said wand by a whipping action by the operator.

United States Patent [1 1 l 11 3,841,292

Hoffman Oct. 15, 1974 [54] HAND OPERATED CATAPULT TOY 2,820,321 H1958Kuhn 124/12 x [76] Inventor: John C. Hoffman, 37 Elm St., Delhi,

NY, 13753 Primary ExaminerAnton O. Oechsle Filed Jan 1972 AssistantExaminerWilliam R. Browne 21 A 2 l3 1 pp] NO 8 57 ABSTRACT [52] Cl I1245 273/95 124/4l A catapult toy, embodying a flexible resilient wand,51 Int. Cl...........:..::.::.: F411) 3/02 with finger grip handle atapered WhiPPuble Shank [58] Field at Search 124/5 4 273/95 102 and ashaped front end, to receive a. mass to be loosely but frictionallyfitted on said front end, to be cata- [56] References Cited pulted fromsaid wand by a whipping action by the 0p- UNITED STATES PATENTS1,168,808 1/1916 Von Hoffmann 124/5 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 1 HANDOPERATED CATAPULT TOY V wand may be shaped in any suitable way, such as,by

the formation of fluted regions along the front end, to frictionallyhold the ball when fitted onto the wand.

' The ball is provided with a central axis hole diametrically disposedto enable the ball to be fitted onto the front end of the flexible wand,with the ball material having sufficient resilience, and the diametralhole being of such dimensions, that the ball will be frictionally heldon the front end of the wand until a whipping operation of the wand willforcibly catapult the ball from the wand. The construction of the toyand some of the features of its operation are shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which FIG. 1 shows a front elevational view of the wand andthe ball in position on the wand; and

FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C show sectional dimensional views taken along theshaft of the wand;

FIG. 2 shows the ball positioned on the wand ready to be catapulted fromthe wand; and

FIG. 3 shows schematically several trajectories through which the ballmay be projected from the wand, to illustrate how the skill anddexterity of the operator may be tested and demonstrated by being ableto catapult the ball to preselected areas as targets.

As shown in FIG. 1, the toy comprises a wand 12 of resilient flexiblematerial, and a mass in the shape of a ball 14, preferably consisting ofa resilient rubber-like material. Y

The wand 12 embodies a shaped handle 22, with suitable flutes 24, toprovide good non-slipping hand grip, and further embodies an elongatedshank 26 that extends to a shaped front-end 28 whose surface is shapedto embody irregularities 30, to provide frictional characteristics tothe surface of front end 28. The wand may be tapered as indicated in thenecked region 32 to provide greater flexibility to the wand, forwhipping action, when it is operated as a whip to snap the wand for thepurpose of operation of the toy, to catapult the ball through a selectedtrajectory to hit a selected target.

The ball mass 14 may be of any shape, but for the sake of symmetry, ismore easily formed as a sphere or ball, and is provided with a hole 40,diametrically and axially through the ball, in order to permit the ballto 2 be applied and pressed onto the irregularly shaped front endsurface 28 of the wand 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the ball 14 is on the wand 12, the wand maythen be whipped as implied by the curved condition of the wand in FIG.2, and the ball then catapulted and projected off the wand to move in apreselected path of projection, such as one of the many possible paths,of which three are illustrated in FIG. 3, and identified by the numerals45, 50 and 55.

The toy may be used in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, to testthe skill of the operator in being able to catapult the ball through anyselected trajectory -to reach a predetermined area as the target, asindicated by the regions 60-1, 60-2 and 60-3, under the arrows of thetrajectories shown in FIG. 3.

The structural design and formation of the surface irregularities at thefront end of the wand may take any desired shape, since their functionprimarily is to provide sufficient friction to hold the ball againstcasual displacement, and to requirea fair amount of energy in thewhipping action to dispel the ball and cause it to travel through apreselected distance, corresponding to some such trajectory as shown inFIG. 3, to reach aselected target area.

The design and construction may be variously modified, without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the claims.For example, the

wand may be made of wood or metal, and the mass need not be round andneed not be made of resilient rubber-like material, but may be made ofnon-resilient material and may also be made in other forms and shapessuch as longer cylinders or flat shallow cylinders in the shape of adisc.

What is claimed is:

1. A My comprising a flexible wand having a handle grip on one end, and

the other or front end having surface irregularities to constitute africtional surface;

and a ball-shaped rubber-like mass having an axial opening sized topermit the mass to be co-axially selectively frictionally disposed onsaid frictional surface,

so said wand may be whipped to displace and project the mass in selecteddirection and with selective force to attempt to place said mass in apreselected area.

2. A toy, as in claim 1, in which the axial opening through said ballmass is of appropriate size to engage the frictional surface with aslight degree of holding pressure .to avoid slipping off until whippedoff by an operator.

3. A catapult toy, as in claim 1, wherein said wand is resilient and hasa tapered whippable shank.

1. A toy comprising a flexible wand having a handle grip on one end, andthe other or front end having surface irregularities to constitute africtional surface; and a ball-shaped rubber-like mass having an axialopening sized to permit the mass to be co-axially selectivelyfrictionally disposed on said frictional surface, so said wand may bewhipped to displace and project the mass in selected direction and withselective force to attempt to place said mass in a preselected area. 2.A toy, as in claim 1, in which the axial opening through said ball massis of appropriate size to engage the frictional surface with a slightdegree of holding pressure to avoid slipping off until whipped off by anoperator.
 3. A catapult toy, as in claim 1, wherein said wand isresilient and has a tapered whippable shank.